The San Diego Padres may have played one of their most balanced games of the season in the second matchup versus the Braves in Atlanta on Tuesday. The newly rejiggered lineup paid off and starter Walker Buehler was able to push through some second inning wildness to complete more than five innings for the 8-3 win.
Manny Machado hit two homers in the game to increase his season total to 22 while Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a bomb to deep center that almost landed in the Truist Park concourse. At 474 feet, it was the longest home run in MLB this season.
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Jackson Merrill, definitely having the most inconsistent streak of his young career, also hit a home run for the Friars. It was the first game this season that all three of them had a home run in the same game. They Padres hit early, they added on and the pitching staff wasn’t required to be perfect in order to secure the win.
Walker Buehler walked too many batters in the second inning and gave up two runs despite only allowing two hits for his 5 2/3 innings pitched. The bullpen rounded out the victory with 3 ⅓ innings, allowing one run by Yuki Matsui. Mason Miller, appearing in only his second time in nine games, pitched the scoreless ninth.
Taking the mound
Martín Pérez (ATL) vs Michael King (SD)
Former Padre Pérez has a 6-6 record and 3.54 ERA for the Braves. In 18 1/3 innings, he has 62 strikeouts with 32 walks. In his last start on July 5, versus the Mets, he lasted 4 ⅓ innings allowing six hits and four earned runs with two walks and a strikeout.
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The Padres faced Perez once before this season with Jase Bowen, Ty France, Samad Taylor and Xander Bogaerts all getting hits in limited at-bats.
Michael King is making his 20th start of the year and has a 6-7 record with a 3.34 ERA. Like all the rest of his teammates, King has been inconsistent this season. He has been lights out in some starts but struggled in others. In his last start, in the July 17 loss against Kansas City, King went five innings and allowed four hits and one run with four strikeouts and two walks.
Over the season, King is the most successful of the Padres starters. He has 113 ⅓ innings pitched with 96 strikeouts
Batter Up!
The revised lineup against the Braves on Tuesday should be brought out again to see how they fare against Perez.
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The power burst from Tuesday would be a welcome carry-over for Wednesday against the Braves. If King can match what Buehler was able to accomplish on Tuesday, the Padres could walk away with a split against Atlanta and continue the hope of a series win.
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